The striped venus clam (Chamelea gallina) is widely distributed in the Northeastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It has a long larval stage and larvae can disperse more than 150 km (Öztürk and Altınok 2021). A recent study showed no genetic structure among populations from the Adriatic, Black Sea, Atlantic, Marmara Sea and the Levantine Sea suggesting a single stock. However, the sample sizes in this study for some of the regions (including the Adriatic Sea) were small and conclusions about population structure should be taken with care (Öztürk and Altınok 2021). 

This profile focuses on the stripped venus clam on the Black Sea. Although a stock assessment was conducted at the Black Sea coast of Turkey (Dağtekin 2016), no regular assessment seems to be undertaken for this species in the region.